Management staff at Ron’s Plumbing, HVAC & Electric pose in the front area of the company’s Winnebago location, which will soon be undergoing extensive renovations to become a training and professional development space for Ron’s employees. Left to right are purchasing manager and accounts payable Andrea Sonnek, president Amos Boeck and marketing and sales director Brittany Voigt.

With an eye to the future, Ron’s Plumbing, HVAC & Electric is making a mammoth investment in the professional development of its employees – both present, and prospective.

“We’ve decided to take the trades labor shortage into our own hands by offering a full apprenticeship experience with a curriculum, hands-on learning, and more,” marketing and sales director Brittany Voigt explains.

“We felt it was a need,” adds Andrea Sonnek, purchasing manager and accounts payable. “There are a lot of techs here. We wanted to support them in furthering their careers.”

Ron’s is providing that support in an innovative way, creating not just opportunities, but a literal space for its prospective and current technicians to pursue professional development opportunities.

The training facility will be located at the Ron’s building in Winnebago, which is located at the south end of the town’s Main Street. The front area of the building will be converted into a classroom space for training and professional development – a project which the crew at Ron’s hopes to have completed by August.

The building’s expansive attic, meanwhile, will be converted into apartments to house prospective technicians who are undergoing the training process.

The building’s exterior also requires some renovations. It stood next to Winnebago’s former SuperValu, which has since been torn down, leaving some scuffing and scarring on the left side of the Ron’s building.

The building itself has a rich history, as the faded graffiti on the attic’s walls suggests. According to Winnebago Area Museum staff, the building used to be an opera house.

Built by G.D. Eygabroad in 1898, it housed concerts, plays and musicals. As the largest stage in Winnebago at the time, it was also the place where graduating classes received their diplomas until 1916.

After the opera house ceased to exist, the building briefly housed a John Deere business before becoming Murphy’s, a car dealership.

The building became Royer’s Plumbing & Heating in the 1970s, and it was bought by Amos Boeck, president of Ron’s, in 2019. Boeck already owned and operated Ron’s at its Wells location at the time, but he was looking to expand operations to Winnebago.

Today, the Ron’s Wells location is central to business operations. Meanwhile, the company’s management has determined that the Winnebago space is ideal for carrying out the business’s vision of a plumbing and electric vocational school.

“We want to set up our technicians and apprentices for success with the right training, and this facility will allow us to do that,” Voigt says. “The plan is that this building is always in use for learning and growth, whether that be a monthly safety training, hands-on refreshers, or new employee orientations – including office staff.”

She concludes, “It will serve not only as a training facility, but also as a continuing ed hub for all employees.”

“This will eventually be our hub for new employees,” Sonnek adds. “We will have the (apartments) upstairs for new employees – like a college experience.”

Indeed, apart from providing professional development opportunities for existing technicians, Ron’s envisions providing prospective technicians with an accessible avenue to employment in the trades.

“We want to train future technicians who embody our company’s core values,” Voigt explains.

The company’s onboarding program is designed for prospective technicians without formal experience.

“In the trades, you don’t have to go to a formal school to get an apprenticeship,” Sonnek observes. “To get an apprenticeship, you can shadow.”

Although Ron’s already offers apprentices shadowing opportunities, the new onboarding program goes beyond this by offering prospective apprentices the opportunity to learn their trade of choice from scratch, at no personal expense.

“There’s no tuition with apprenticeship, and you’re an employee (of Ron’s) from day one, so no worries about job hunting after completing training,” Voigt elaborates. “Apprentices are on the pathway to a lifetime career from the start.”

Ron’s management hopes that the program will encourage local high schoolers who are interested in the trades to stay in the Faribault County area.

“It shows them that they can live and work here,” Sonnek says.

She, Voigt and Boeck also think the onboarding process will appeal to prospective technicians who would like a trial period to determine which trade suits them best.

“This space allows time to bring someone in, and see if it’s a good fit,” Boeck says. “Apprentices can choose their trade.”

The training program is already off to a good start. Boeck confirms that Ron’s currently has 42 employees, three of whom are undergoing the onboarding process.

The company’s management staff are excited to see more people entering the trades, which they consider an up-and-coming field in the area.

“There’s great job security in the trades, and there’s pride and satisfaction in hands-on work,” Voigt says. “We strive to give back to our employees and the local community – Ron’s is focused on leading the way in the trades for years to come.”